Orchard heater



Dec. 25, 1928.

W. S. BUTTON ORCHARD HEATER Filed June 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet Dec. 25, 1928. 1,696,668

w. s. BUTTON ORCHARD HEATER Filed June 8, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 19 40 39 F Z 4 W Wm f Q) 0:) @9 3 @3 Dec. 25 1928.

W. S. BUTTON ORCHARD HEATER Filed June 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 4770 e/we Y Patented Dec. 25, 1928.

UNITED- STATES PATENT ornca.

WILLIAM STEWART BUTTON, OI RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR '10 RIVERSIDE SHEET METAL WORKS, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

ORCHARD HEATER.

Application fled June 8, 1925. Serial No. 35,644.

My present invention being referred to as an orchard heater, it may be understood to be an object of this invention to provide improved means for so burning hydrocarbon oils, among fruit trees or elsewhere in the open air, as to obtain maximum heat effects, with a minimum of soot formation, and by means requiring very little attention to assure satisfactory operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide relatively inexpensive orchard heaters, which may com rise fuel receptacles polygonal 1n horizonta outline and of the general type" 5 ti ons or bosses hereinafter termed bumps,

I adapting them to cooperate in effecting a hi hly satisfactory combustion of any suitable oil; and advantageous embodiments of my invention may comprise elements, of the general character referred to, cooperating to control drafts, by ermitting or preventing the inflow of air t rough various openings hereinafter described.

. It is a further object of my invent-ion to provide a heater not liable to be easily extinguished or deranged by moderate winds or likely to be seriously damaged by unavoidable exposure to the weather; and preferred embodiments of my heater may have their interfitting parts and openings so disposed that, when suitable covers are applied, rain may be practically excluded therefrom.

In regions where orchard heaters are used, the growth of residential communities has, in many cases, resulted in increasing criticism regarding the smoke nuisance. It is an important object of this invention to provide means whereby the formation of soot may be practically prevented; and advantageous embodiments of my invention asuring satisto factor combustion may include conical or other urners having a diameter, at the to thereof, in excess of the diameter of a stac outlet,notwithstanding the fact that air may be fed, at a low level, into a space between said stack and said burner.

The central region of an orchard heater stack being exposed to relatively high temperatures, such as tend to burn off any ordinary coating and tend to promote the oxidat1on of exposed sheet metal, preferred embodiments of my invention may optionally comprisestacks adapted to carry extensions, 9r stacks formed in se arately replaceable mterfitting sections; an if desired, the central portions of my stacks ma be formed of a material, such as cast iron, a a. ting the same to withstand the effects of big temperature for very long periods of time.

Other objects of my invention may be best understood from a detailed description of advantageous embodiments thereof, taken in connection with the appended claims and the accompanylng drawings, in which Fig. 1 1s anelevational view, with parts broken away to a median plane.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and showing a receptacular element, and a. cover therefor, as if in plan.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken iiubstzlmtially as indicated by the line 33 of Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view, SllOWIIlg a preferred type of ventilator open- 86 ing, and showin also a preferred means for removably attaching a cover to. a receptacle.

Fig. 5 1s a detail view, taken substantially as indicated by the arrow 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view, 00 showing an optional arrangement of draft openings, as hereinafter described.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic development of parts interfitting to control draft openings of the general character illustrated in Fig. 6.

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views corresponding to Fig. 7, but showing alternative positions, as hereinafter mentioned.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section, corresponding to the upper part of Fig. 1, but showing alternative forms and optional features.

Fig. 12 is an additional view comparable to Fig. 11, but showing an optional form in w hich use is made of cast elements interfitting to form an intermediate section of a stack.

Fig. 13 is also a view comparable to Fig. 11, but showing a form in which the lower portion of a stack is of larger diameter than the central part thereof.

. Fig. 14 is a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially as indicated by the line 1414 of Fig. 13.

Referring to the details of that specific embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs.

1 to 10 inclusive, 11 designates a receptacle for containing fuel formed by bending sheet metal in substantially the manner described in the mentioned patent to Button and Huntoon, the upper edge 12 of this fuel receptacle being preferably rectangular in outline and reinforced by the insertion of a wire 13, extending circumferentially, over which the edge of the sheet metal is bent, in a known manner, to form a bead; and the cover 14, may be removably secured thereon in any desided manner, but preferably in the general manner indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. to say, the entire circumference of the cover element 14, except the extreme corners thereof, may be provided with a roll 15, of sufficient diameter to receive the mentioned bead including the wire 13, and with a downwardly projecting flange 16, adapted to guide the roll 15 over the wire 13 and retain the cover 14 in position,the said roll and flange being sufficiently resilient to permit the cover to be sprung into place, and nevertheless sufficiently rigid to prevent its accidental displacement. Near, but not at, its corners, (where the reentrant angle between flange and roll should disappear) the flange 16 may bebent inward, as shown at 17, Fig. 4, to enable the same to be conveniently handled; and the relationships between the described parts are intended to be such that, although a sharp upward blow at any corner may initiate the separation of a cover, an entire unit may ordinarily be handled by engagement of the roll 15 or the flange 16,-without danger of separating the cover 14 from the receptacular element or body 11.

With a container comprising an oil receptacle and a cover of the general type described, or independently thereof, I may employ a burner element 18 having the general form of an inverted frustum of a cone, the burner element shown in Fig. 1 being of non-uniform taper, adapting it to engage and to center and level itself relatively to the edges of a collar 19, shown as integral and concentric with the cover 14.

The burner element 18, or its equivalent. may be provided with air inlet openings of That is various types including such as are shown at 20, 21, and 22, positioned substantially as 'may have a diameter, below its contracted top, such that, except for the provisionofinwardly extending bumps the upper edge of the burner would continuously contact therewith; but, when I provide the stack not only with air inlet openings 26, above the top of the burner 18, but also with what I may term preheater inlet openings 27, near the base of said stack, I may employ means, such as the bumps 28, effective not only to permit air freely to pass the'edge 25 of the burner 18 but also to steady the stack 23 thereon; and I may also provide an annular shoulder 29, between the collar 19 and the inclined portion of the top 14, adapting the lower edge 30 of the stack 23 to intertit therewith, and optionally to rotate thereon, for a purpose hereinafter set forth;

In Figs. 1, 2,4, and 5, a cover 14 is shown I as provided with one or more draft-control devices, comprismg upwardly cupped discs 31, pivoted at 32 to bosses 33, so that one or more of a plurality of openings 34 may be brought opposite a slot or slots 35, extending through said bosses, to admit air, at a controlled rate, into the interior of the receptacle 11; and, independently of the m'en tioned openings (which may be used also as filling openings) or in addition thereto, I may provide draft openings 35, so positioned as to be closed by the lower portion of the stack 23, except when openings 36, cut through said stack, are brought intocoincidence therewith. It will be noted that the openings 36, when provided, are below the mentioned preheater openings 27, which admit air to a preheater space 37, whereas the openings 3 5 and 36, when brought into coincidence, admit'air into the air space 38, above the oil level in the receptacle 11; and in order to permit a controlled movement of air between the spaces 37 and 38, I may optionally provide additional small openings 39, in a substantially horizontal or inclined surface at the top of the shoulders 22), or their equivalent; and, to provide a closure for the last mentioned openings, I may optionally deflect inward a suitable flap or cover element. 40, incidentally to the cutting of the openings 27 the construction here referred to being best shown in Fig. 6.

In order that, by rotative ad'ustment of the stack 23, or its e uivalent, the openings 35 may be eontmlle independently of, or simultaneously with, the openings 39, the mentioned openings, andthc cover elements therefor, must be suitably spaced and constructed. For example, asshown in the diagrams constituting Figs. 7-10 inclusive, assuming the openi "s 35 and 39 to lie in a common vertical p ane or lanes, the cover element 40 (integral with t e Stack 23) and an elongated aperture 36 may be relatively ofi'set, so that, as shown in Fig. 7, air may be permitted to pass simultaneously through the openings 35' and 39; or, as shown in Fig. 8 (in which the stack 23 is assumed to have been rotated slightly toward the left the opening'35 may be kept open althoug the opening 39 is closed. As shown 1n Figs. 9 and 10, a further shift of the stack 23 may be effective to close both of the mentioned openings; and a still -further shift may cause the cover 40 to clear the opening 39, even while the opening 35 may remain covered. Thus the stack 23 becomes a means for controlling the admission of air through openings 36 and also a means for very precisely controlling any'desired movement of air between the spaces 37 and 38,-as may be suitable to the burning of particular 0118, or to the use of my heater under specific conditions of operation. Any suitable means may be added, if desired, to facilitate relat ve rotation of the stack 23, or of an equivalent element adapted to control some or all of the mentioned openings; and I suggest 1n Fig. 6 the utilization, for this purpose, of ears 41, formed incidentally to the cutting of the openings 36. If desired, small pro ect1ons 36" mav be pressed inward from the stack 23. to engage the top edge of burner 18.

In Fig. 11, I show an alternative embodiment of my invention in which the burner 18" has a cbntinuous taper, a bead 42 being provided at an intermediate level, to mterfit with a collar 19 at the center of a cover element 14".the construction herereterred to being substantially the same as that shown in the mentioned patent to Button and Huntoon: but. differing from the mentioned patent and from that embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1-10 inclusive the burner 18" is shown in Fig. 11 as cooperating with a stack 23 provided with inwardly projccting bumps 28 serving to center said stack, and to provide passages for an upward movement of preheated aim-which may be admitted through openings 27 to a preheating space 37". In this case, assuming the upper edge 25 of the burner 18 to have a diameter of, for example, 5 inches, the body of the stack may have a diameter such as 6 inches; and it will be obvious that, instead of providing the same exclusively with rounded openings of the general character illustrated inFig. 1,Ima o tionall em lo rectan lar or other ogenings 26 adzi pt d, in 01%:8 sectlonalarea, to admit asuitable quantity of air to the stack 23, above the top of the burner 18.

Also, instead of contracting the top of the stack 23 or 23, I may employ thereon a cast or other collar 24, providing an outlet of less diameter than the top openin 25 or 25* of a burner. Onto a collar so ormed, or over the contracted edge 24 of a stack 23 of the type shown in Fig. 1, I may fit either an additional section of pipe, serving as an extension, or 0. ca for the exclusion of rain; and 1t Wlll .be 0 vious that the draft-control devices above described may be used with, or 1nde en'dentlyof, a stack provided with inwa ly or outwardly extending bumps, and also that such bumps may be used with, or independently of, a cast or other collar 24%, serving to narrow the outlet from a stack; and such a collar may be either permanently or removably secured to a stack.

As suggested above, and as indicated in Fig. 12, I mayalternatively employ a stack comprlslng a lurality of sections independently replaces. le, an intermediate or upper section or sections, subjected to especially high temperatures, being optionally formed of cast metal. For example, when I employ separate complemental castings 23 23", adapted to meet in a vertical plane, I may adapt the same to interfit within a lower sec tion 23, and within an upper section or collar' 24, and to be retained thereby. The respective sections 23 and 23" may be centrally expanded and provided with any desired openings for the admission of air; and they may be respectively provided with bumps 28, corresponding to the mentioned fbumps 28 and 28 of the alternative embodiments above described; and, if desired, they may be provided with interlocking means suc as integral pins 43, adapted to extend through cooperatlng apertured lugs 44. The mat ng sections 23 and 23" may be identical in every respect,each being provided with a pair of pins and with a pair of apertured lugs, and I may use any desired combination of the various suggested means for hold ng separate stack sections in assembled relatlonship.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 13, the lower portion of a stack 23, whether formed of cast metal or other material, may be so expanded as to provide bumps blendmg with and becoming indistinguishable from a preheating chamber 37,as by forming a larger cylindrical lower preheater portion 23 integral with a smaller cylindrical stack 23*, shown as contracted at its top 24 to a diameter less than the average diameter, or less than any diameter, of a burner 18". As shown, the upper portion of the burner 18 may be cylindrical in general form; but it may be provided with upwardly expanding corrugations 45, serving to hold the mentione parts in concentric relationship. Alternatively or additionalliy, an equivalent or supplemental s cin e set may be obtained by the use of ri s or lugs 46, projecting inwardly from that bump portion of this stack which lies opposite the to edge 25 of the burner 18; and parts of t e ribs or lugs 46, when employed, may be adapted to overlie said top edge, for the purpose indicated in connection with the projections 36, Fig. 1, (corresponding elements being shown at 36 in Fig. 11) and, in any or all forms of my invention, the lateral openings provided for the admission of air may optionally be surrounded by rims 47. or the like, favorable to the exclusion of rain. \Vhether the same are formed of cast metal or sheet metal, the use of sections of the general character described in the respective figures enables the various-embodiments of my invention to be readily assembled, without the use of tools; and like parts may be nested in a compact manner, for storage.

Although I have herein described several alternative embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that various features thereof may be independently used, and also that numerous additional embodiments might be made by those skilled in the art to which this case relates, without the slightest departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, as the same is indicated above and in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; and a stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner, to permit an upward current of air preheated in a space bet-ween said burner and said stack, said stack having a'series of air inletopenings formed therein and arranged circumferentially about said burner below said bumps,

2. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; a stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner, to permit an upward current of air preheated in a space between said burner and said stock; a cover element provided with air inlet openings; and said stack provided with openings movable into coincidence with said air inlet openings, to open or close the same.

3. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; a rotatable stack extending above said burner'and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner, to permit'an upward current of air preheated in a space between sa1d burner and said stack; and an additional air space being provided in the top of said rece tacular element, the rotation of said stac being effective to control apertures pro viding communication between said air spaces.

4. An orchard heater comprising: 'a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; a rotatable stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner to permit an upward current of air preheated in a space between said burner and said stack; and means whereby the rotation of said stack is effective to control an admission of air therethrough, 5. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; a stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner to permit an upward current of air preheated in a space between said burner and said stack, said stack being provided with lateral apertures for the admission of air, some of said apertures being provided with projecting circular rims for the exclusion 'of rain water and warming of air. a

6. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; and a stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner, to permit an upward current ofair preheated in a space between said burner and said stack, said stack having a series of air inlet openings formed therein and arranged circumferentially about said burner below said bumps and said stack being upwardly terminated in an outlet of less diameter than the diameter of the top of the mentioned burner.

7. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; and a stack extending above said burner and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said burner, to permit an upward current of air preheated in a space between said burner and said stack, said stack having a series of air inlet openings formed therein and arranged circumferentially about said burner below said bumps, and said heater having a preheater space formed therein surrounding said burn.- er, and said stack being provided with openings, near the bottom thereof and below said bumps, communicating with said preheater space, and provided also with openings for the admission of air into the upper portion of said fuel receptacle.

8. An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle provided with a cover; a burner extending above said cover; and a stack ex tending above said burner, and provided with bumps at the level of the top of said provided with a collar, adapted to receive burner, to permit an upward current of air said burner, and provided also with a shoulpreheated in a space between said burner and der adapted to be engaged by said stack. 10 said stack, said stack having a series of air In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 5 inlet openings formed therein and arranged my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 27th circumferentially about said burner below day of May, 1925.

said bumps and said cover element being WM. STEWART BUTTON. 

